The Madurese are from the highly populated Malaysian island of Madura. Madura is where much of the salt in the region is produced and the big business and industry means a large population and over crowding. In an effort to ease the squeeze the Indonesian government has been re-housing Madurese in less populated areas of Borneo i.e. where the Dayak live, since the 60’s. The Dayaks haven’t taken kindly to it.
The Madurese, from the Dayak’s perspective, took ancient lands from them and stole their jobs in the local mines. The Dayak didn’t like the intrusion. On top of that, the Madurese are different, they’re not from around these parts, they look different, they stick together, they’re tough traders and are steeped in the trappings of modernity. Their modern way of thinking brought in destruction of the local environment and corrupt officials doing dodgy deals that negatively impacted the Dayak and their homes.
On the other hand, the Madurese consider the Dayak lazy and hate the fact that they eat pork and keep dogs which is anti-Islamic. The two peoples don’t share a language or a religion and there’s no love lost between them at all.
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